Economic Times: New Delhi: Friday, July 06, 2018.
The
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, the agency that formulates
foreign direct investment policy and promotes, approves and facilitates FDI,
said it has no information on the names and number of companies operating
online marketplaces in India and whether they comply with the norms.
There is “no
information to furnish on the matter” with regard to three questions asked,
Sushant Sudan, the central public information officer of the department, said
in response to queries filed under the Right to Information Act.
For two other
queries, “the copy of the RTI is forwarded to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs
for providing information, if available with them.”
The RTI was
filed by Dharmendra Kumar of India FDI Watch, a body of trade associations,
unions, farmers groups and small-scale industries working towards “building
awareness and facilitating grassroots action to prevent the takeover of India’s
retail sector by corporations.”
The body
asked for a list of entities covered by ecommerce guidelines, if related
parties of such entities are carrying out restricted business in India, whether
these parties comply with foreign direct investment rules as notified in
February 2017, a list of Indian ecommerce companies operating marketplaces and
the agency or government department with which these companies need to be
registered.
The
department did not immediately respond to queries sent by ET seeking comment on
the matter.